>> ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
The City of Milledgeville and Georgia College & State University (GCSU) have received a $100,000 grant to educate students on the design and installation of solar panels. Officials are hoping for both short-and long-term positive results.
The funding comes through the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation (PII), which promotes community projects to enhance economic development. PII, a public-private organization, was founded in 2020 and provides technical and financial support to open innovation through collaboration. So far, PPI’s work has catalyzed 30-plus projects with local governments, universities, start-ups, and nonprofits.
Milledgeville was among four cities awarded the grant this year, alongside Atlanta, Brunswick, and Statesboro, and its role in the project will be very limited.
“The school needed a sponsor, which is actually a misnomer,” City Manager Hank Griffeth said. “The city is not putting any money in this. A city building, though, will be used for the installation of a solar panel system.”
Nicholas Creel, assistant professor of business law and director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at GCSU, did most of the work in preparing the grant proposal and will be heavily involved in the project.
“The crux of the grant is for us to launch a workforce development program, which is going to cover the certification on design and installation of solar power systems as well as an entrepreneurial component to teach how to be able to launch their own company in this field,” he explained.
The initial phase of the course will focus on various technical aspects of solar power generation, while the second phase will be aimed at entrepreneurship education topics such as the nature of contracts, how to write business plans, and other needs for starting a new business.
Creel anticipates approximately 40 students, in groups of 10, participating in the program, which he said will kick off in January and run through the end of July. Tuition will be paid with grant proceeds.
The grant proposal indicates the program will consist of 48 hours of in-person instruction, with varying schedules for the four groups based on work, school, and home and family needs.
However, officials are anticipating results beyond students gaining certification in the solar power field.
“If you spend your money on this, you’re hoping employment numbers go up for certain people who otherwise might not be getting jobs,” Creel said. “Tax revenues go up. With new businesses getting started, more people get jobs. “So, we’re doing a sort of economic impact study on this as well,” he added, “to see what are the effects on Milledgeville and the greater Milledgeville area.”
Creel said he hopes to gauge other effects on both participants and the community.
“We want to see if this changes people’s attitudes on solar power as a whole. Are people become more open to the idea of adopting solar, do they have better opinions about solar? [Does] that all change after a higher level of familiarity is gained as a result of the program.”
Creel said he thinks Milledgeville is an excellent setting for the program.
“The closest location physically for students who want to do a certification in this is three-and-a-half hours from Milledgeville currently. So, the only option for folks who want to learn how to do this solar tech stuff, they have to do it online, or they have to drive a pretty inordinate distance,” he pointed out.
Creel also said the program would offer students the chance to decide which path they may want to choose following certification.
“I think the best way to look at it is, we’re giving everybody the training they need for a high-paying, blue-collar job, while also giving them the education they need should they want to turn themselves into a white-collar business owner.”
He adds that plans call for some of the students to get paid for at least one day’s work.
“We will be affixing a solar panel system to one city building,” he explained. “Out of the 40 students who are doing this, we’re going to give 10 the opportunity to get a paid job to put the solar panels on a city building. So, they’ll get $400 for a day’s work, about $50 an hour for going and taking part in this. They will have learned not just theory; they’ll learn practice, as we oversee them installing on the city building.”
The City of Milledgeville will also receive a benefit from that installation, Creel said, as the solar panels will offset the energy cost for the building involved. He indicated the number of panels to be installed is not known at this point, as the building has not yet been designated.
The application process should begin in late October, according to Creel.